


See: More Definitions for "Date"

by kittensmctavish



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Alternate Universe - Non-Despair (Dangan Ronpa), Don't copy to another site, F/M, Feelings Realization, First Dates, First Kiss, Flirting, Food, Gentle Kissing, Honesty, Not Beta Read, Out of Character, Sort Of, Surprise Kissing, Tea, Teasing, probably
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2020-08-08
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:21:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25790494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kittensmctavish/pseuds/kittensmctavish
Summary: Feelings, in general, are a pain.Crushes are even more of a pain.(written for himikichi harmony day one. prompt: date.)
Relationships: Akamatsu Kaede/Saihara Shuichi (mentioned), Oma Kokichi/Yumeno Himiko
Comments: 10
Kudos: 72





	See: More Definitions for "Date"

**Author's Note:**

> written for the himikichikarmony event on tumblr. day one prompts included date, masks, and memories. i went with date (though i guess some memories worked themselves into the fic as well...as in, things that are remembered are discussed briefly in a scene.)
> 
> get ready for some badly written kokichi y'all. (i just cannot write him as he appears in the game. see notes at the end of the fic for a more detailed explanation.)

“Hey, Himiko!”

“Nyeh?” She looks up from her notebook at Kokichi, who flops down into the chair next to hers.

“What’s shakin’?” he asks.

“Nothing?” Himiko says. “Just…taking some notes for class.” She points her pen at her open notebook, and the open textbook next to it.

“How uncharacteristically diligent of you!” Kokichi says.

“Um…thanks…I think…” She glances back down at her notebook, to pick up where she left off in the sentence Kokichi had interrupted.

“Sooooo, Himikooooo…”

“Nyeh?” She continues writing.

“What’s your favorite date?”

Her pen skews off the line and off the page, her head darting up with the question.

“Oh…um…” She tries to get a read of Kokichi’s face, wondering why he’d ask her such a question. Unreadable, as always, though with an innocent bat of the eyes. “I don’t know…” She’s tempted to ask why he’s asking, but decides an honest answer is best instead. “I haven’t really…gone on a date before…I guess getting tea at a little café would be nice…maybe sharing a dessert…”

“Sheesh, Himiko, I wasn’t asking about THAT kind of date!” Kokichi scoffs.

“Nyeh?”

“I was talking about CALENDAR dates. Take me, for instance.” He gestures towards himself. “My favorite date would DEFINITELY be October 23. Though I could also make a case for January 4.”

“Oh…” There doesn’t really seem to be a good way to respond, but respond she does. “Not a holiday? Or your birthday?”

“Aw, Himiko, you remember when my birthday is?” Kokichi presses a hand over his heart. “That’s so sweet. Now I feel bad for not remembering yours.”

“Nyeh…” She tugs at her hat. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Anyway, you still haven’t answered my question.”

“I don’t know, Kokichi, that’s…” A stupid question? Can’t say that. Unexpected? Almost certainly, but… “It’s a question that requires some thought.”

“Mmmkay.” He stands up. “I’ll let you think about it. Later!” With that, he rises and walks away, Himiko watching him for a few moments.

She shouldn’t wonder why Kokichi asks her…whatever he asks her on a regular basis. She’s definitely been on the receiving end of stranger, more inane questions and conversations. She likely won’t come up with an answer for it. Kokichi knows she won’t, but she also knows he won’t begrudge her for it.

Himiko focuses on her notebook once more, groaning a little at the thick line of ink now run through a chunk of notes, rendering them…not illegible, but needing some rewriting.

She tries not to think too much about why she’d thought he’d been asking about romantic dates. Or why he’d ask her about such a thing in the first place. Or why a small pang of disappointment shoots through her that he hadn’t been.

She scribbles out the notes hard enough to indent the next few pages in her notebook.

***

About a week later, Himiko sits on a bench in the park, deck in her hands, practicing her cardistry. She cuts and recuts the deck, one-hand, two-hand, forms different shapes in the spaces between the stacks, tries to keep everything balanced enough for the shapes to remain visible, as though for an audience.

So engrossed is she in her craft that she doesn’t hear someone approach her as she brings the deck together again, ready to begin another round. And just as she does…

“HIMIKO!”

“NYEH!”

Cards fly everywhere.

“Ooh, you’re playing 52 Pick-up?” Kokichi says jovially. “Can I play?”

“Nyeh…I was not,” Himiko says, not bothering to answer the other question as Kokichi bends down to begin picking up cards. She does the same. “You startled me.”

“So I did.” The response is unsurprising for Kokichi. “But to be fair, I think I’d have startled you regardless of how loud I said your name.”

“I guess…” She flips cards over in her hands so they all face the same way in the deck. “Did you come over here just to startle me?”

“No, that was just an added bonus. I actually need something from you.”

“Oh?” Himiko pushes her half of the cards into a neat stack, bending them a little, prepping them into a one-hand shuffle. “What do you need?”

“A date.”

The cards bend enough to explode from her fingers like fireworks.

“Sheesh, Himiko, so clumsy!” Kokichi scolds playfully.

“You need a date from me?” Himiko asks.

“Mmm-hmm. And a signature.”

“…nyeh?”

Kokichi nods his head in the direction of the bench on which Himiko had been sitting before. On the edge of it rests a clipboard.

“Shuichi’s putting together a petition or something for students to get permission from the school to go see Kaede’s big fancy recital in a few months or whatever,” Kokichi explains as he continues picking up cards, occasionally flipping one over. “And I, out the kindness of my heart, volunteered to help Shuichi get signatures.”

“Oh…” Himiko picks up the clipboard to look it over.

Sure enough, Kokichi seems to be telling the truth. She recognizes Shuichi’s handwriting in the appeal to the headmaster, not to mention the phrasing of the sentences. And she recognizes a few signatures below the paragraph—Gonta, Kirumi, and Rantaro, among others, have all signed and dated, expressing interest. She unclips the pen from the top to add her signature below Ryoma’s.

“And…52!” Himiko looks up to see Kokichi sorting the desk together, before fanning the cards out (in, admittedly, not a terrible fan…she’s seen worse…from him and from others). She sets the clipboard back down to turn fully towards him. “Pick a card, Himiko, any card. I’m not looking.” Sure enough, his eyes are closed. She suppresses the urge to roll her eyes, but picks one from the middle. Seven of spades. “Okay, now put it back in the deck.” She places it in a different spot from before. Kokichi pushes the fan of cards back together and begins to shuffle them. His cardistry is lacking, but enthusiastic. She can tell he’s been practicing.

One card pushes itself up from the deck. Kokichi fishes it out.

“What was your card?” he asks.

“Seven of spades,” she says.

“Ooh, no, I’m sorry, the correct answer is the three of diamonds,” Kokichi answers, showing her the card. “Too bad.”

“Kokichi, that’s not even a card trick.” Himiko tries her best to sound annoyed but can’t hold back a little bit of laughter.

“Yeah. I know.” Kokichi hands her the deck, his fingers brushing against hers, before he picks up the clipboard. “Thanks for the date and signature.”

He places enough of a pause between “date” and “and signature” to once again throw her for a loop as he leaves.

She thinks back to a week ago…another conversation that began with, supposedly, interest in a date—as in, a romantic outing—only to, once again, not be about that at all. If it had just been the once, Himiko could maybe have waved it off as Kokichi just…being Kokichi. Having a laugh. But after a second instance…Himiko can’t be so sure.

And she can’t be so sure that the fact that he WASN’T asking her for a date doesn’t sadden her…just a little…maybe a little more than before. Which is just…odd to her. She doesn’t have a crush on Kokichi. At least, she’s pretty sure she doesn’t.

Himiko sighs and sits again, looking down at her stack of cards, fanning them out face side down.

Somehow, none of the cards were upside down. Not that Himiko was that fastidious about her cards, but the design on the back of each card were all aligned the same.

She pushes the fan together again and flips the deck over. The queen of hearts faces her.

***

Himiko waits for it to happen again. Kokichi seems to be establishing a pattern. It’s going to happen again at some point.

She keeps an ear out for it in conversations with him, but…no hints. Nothing beyond his usual teasing or usual lies.

Although…Himiko can’t help but wonder if some of those aren’t really lies. Like…whenever he says something like blue not being her color or a ponytail being a bad look on her…does he really mean them? Or is he actually saying he LIKES it when she wears blue, or pulls her hair back?

Then there are the times where he says something about her hair being a mess, or her collar being crooked, or the button on the sleeve of her jacket is undone, or how she’s got a smudge of something on her face just…RIGHT here. And then he’ll reach out to “fix it” (usually, in the case of her hair, messing it up even further). Are these just excuses to get a little closer to her? To touch her in some way?

She’s aware of the cliché of boys picking on the girls they like (detestable, according to Tenko…only encourages degeneracy in males). One could argue that Kokichi picks on everyone, so that isn’t really the case. But he never seems to tease anyone in the same fashion he teases Himiko, she’s noticed. He’s never outright mean-spirited with anyone that doesn’t deserve it (well…okay, he’s particularly nasty to Miu, but only because a: Miu can dish it out just as well as Kokichi can, and often does first, and b: Kokichi knows Miu gets some enjoyment out of it). But with Himiko, his teasing…in retrospect, it seems almost more affectionate.

And she finds herself noticing other things about Kokichi she feels she hadn’t noticed before. Like the way he scrunches up his nose whenever Miu says something particularly brash. Or the way his eyes seem to flash whenever getting into a heated debate with Shuichi or Kaito. Or the slightest hint of a smile whenever taking a bite of whatever particularly scrumptious thing Kirumi’s made. Little things about him she can’t help but find endearing.

Which…throws her for a loop. The endearment. This thing that feels somewhat like affection.

And it has her curled up on her bed one Saturday afternoon mentally going over interactions with Kokichi the entire time she’s known him and wondering if she’d felt this way earlier and just never noticed. Manage to pinpoint when it may have happened, and groan loudly into her pillow in the wake of all these new…FEELINGS.

This can’t be a crush. If it is, it’s a pain, and she wants no part of it. But her stupid head and stupid heart don’t seem to care.

But maybe, now that she’s aware of what…FEELINGS (ugh) she may or may not bear for Kokichi…she’ll be better prepared for the next time he throws a date-related question her way. (And maybe, she foolishly and hopelessly thinks, he’ll ask her on a real date.)

But a week goes by. Then another. And Himiko concludes that she must have just imagined something that she hadn’t hoped for, or even wanted, the first time around. But in retrospect…she can’t help but ache for it a little.

***

“Hey, Himiko, you wanna date?”

Himiko jumps at the sudden question and appearance from Kokichi, her chopsticks slipping from her fingers and clattering on to the table. Kokichi slides down the bench of the lunchroom table until he’s right next to Himiko, his arm pressing against hers.

“Nyeh?” She’s too momentarily flustered for a better response.

“I asked if you wanted a date,” Kokichi says, clasping his hands on the table.

“…um…” His question seems serious enough this time. No trace of a playful smirk. Eyes wide and sincere. And she hopes she isn’t blushing…or that he can sense her pulse picking up a little. “Yeah, sure.” She can’t hold back a little smile. “When?”

“Right now.”

Himiko blinks. “Really?”

“Yep.”

“Um…okay, I guess.”

“Cool.” Kokichi turns his head and cups a hand to his mouth. “Hey, Kirumi!” Himiko watches him wave at the Ultimate Maid, her pulse falling back to a normal pace in her confusion. Kirumi, from the other end of the lunch room, waves her acknowledgment of Kokichi’s beckoning, and Kokichi turns back to look at Himiko. “Kirumi made these bacon-wrapped date things and wanted some people to taste test them. They’re soooooooo good, Himiko. You’re gonna love ‘em.”

“Nyeh…bacon-wrapped dates?” is all Himiko can say, spirit falling a little.

“Yes.” Himiko looks up at an approaching Kirumi, holding a tray laden with said foodstuffs. “Miss Nevermind, from one of the years above us, asked if I might prepare some for a gathering she is holding for her class, as they are always present at royal gatherings in Novoselic.” Kirumi gestures to the rows on the tray as she continues to speak, each row slightly different in presentation, indicated by the colors at the ends of the toothpicks. “The traditional recipe calls for a date stuffed with an almond and some goat cheese, wrapped in bacon, and brushed with a maple balsamic glaze. However, to accommodate different diets, I have also prepared some without almonds, for those with nut allergies; without goat cheese, for those who can’t eat dairy; without bacon, for those who are vegetarian; and without bacon and goat cheese, for those who are vegan.”

“Wow, Kirumi, you thought of everything,” Kokichi says, grabbing one of the dates with a blue toothpick. “Though I gotta say, anyone who doesn’t like bacon is just weird. Right, Himiko?” He hands the date to her. She takes it, holding it carefully by the toothpick.

“I was made aware by Miss Nevermind of certain food preferences and sensitivities,” Kirumi further explains, “and I wanted to ensure everyone present would be able to partake of the dish.”

“Because you’re the best,” Kokichi says, snagging another couple of dates. “And these are superb. May need you to make these for my next meeting with D.I.C.E., although you’d need to make a loooooot of them. I got a looooooot of minions to feed.” Himiko takes a bite of her own date, and as she begins to chew, Kokichi stands suddenly. “Well, I gotta run. I’ll tell some more people about these so they can some try them, Kirumi, okay? Later, Himiko!”

The sticky date and chewy bacon keep Himiko from being able to say anything to Kokichi before he dashes off. Like “goodbye.” Or “I thought you were asking me on a real date.” Or “Why did you word your question the way you did?” Or “Why do you keep doing this?” Or “Do you secretly like me as much as I think I secretly like you?”

She swallows the bite.

“Is it not to your liking, Himiko?” Kirumi asks. “I understand goat cheese can be somewhat divisive. Not everybody enjoys the flavor, so there’s no need to worry about offending me if you do not care for it.”

“Oh…no, Kirumi, it’s good.” Himiko manages a weak smile. “I’m just…not very hungry, I guess.”

“I understand,” Kirumi says with a kind smile. “We did interrupt your lunch. I shall let you finish.” With a slight nod of her head, Kirumi walks back to her previous position.

Himiko turns back to her half-finished lunch, pushes the tray away a little, knowing the rest probably won’t be eaten. She looks at the date in her hand.

The date Kokichi had asked if she wanted. The kind of date she hadn’t expected.

She takes another, bigger bite of the date, crunching down hard on the almond nestled within the goat cheese. It cracks into shards between her teeth.

***

Himiko tries to think of someone she can talk to about all of this.

Tenko’s out of the question, as she’ll just go into a tirade about Kokichi’s degeneracy. Angie will just say something about Atua. Miu would be too…crass, to put it lightly. Maki would probably just tell her to suppress all emotions until death. Tsumugi will just turn it into an excuse to try and get Himiko into some magical girl cosplay, and Himiko’s just plain not up for that ever. She doesn’t want to bug Kirumi, who is like very busy with myriad other tasks (like making bacon-wrapped dates). Kaede…

…actually, when Himiko thinks about it, Kaede is probably the best bet, given her relatively recent relationship with Shuichi.

So later that afternoon, Himiko knocks on the door to Kaede’s lab, hearing the piano music come to a pause.

“Come in!” she hears Kaede call. Himiko opens the door quietly, and Kaede looks up from her sheet music and gives Himiko a bright smile. “Hi, Himiko! Did you want to study here while I practiced?”

“Oh…not today, but thanks.” Himiko did sometimes take notes while Kaede played compositions by whatever composer struck her fancy any given day. Oftentimes, with the slower softer songs, Himiko would end up nodding off. “I actually wanted to ask you something.”

“Sure!” Kaede pats the empty space on the bench next to her, but Himiko remains where she is. “Is there anything wrong?”

“No…not really…um…” Himiko shifts her feet. “It’s a little personal, so…you don’t have to answer if you don’t want.”

“How personal are we talking?” Kaede asks. “I’m a pretty open book.”

“Okay…um…well…how did Shuichi first ask you out?”

Kaede blinks, raises her eyebrows at the question. Himiko can tell Kaede has questions in answer to the question…probably about why Himiko would ask such a thing. Thankfully, Kaede has always been the type of friend who doesn’t press for details if the person is clearly uncomfortable sharing them.

“To be honest…” Kaede rubs the back of her neck. “…I ended up being the one to ask HIM out.”

“Nyeh?” Himiko doesn’t know why she’s surprised, but there it is.

“Well…I could tell that’s what he was always trying to ask me. We’d have conversations that always ended up with him asking if he could ask me something, only for him to end up saying to forget it, it was nothing to worry about. Like he could never get the words out.” Kaede smiles fondly to herself. “He told me later he was afraid I’d say no. Silly of him to think that.” Kaede looks back up at Himiko. “Eventually, I figured that…maybe it would be best if I made that move. So I did. And he said yes. And now we’re dating.”

“Oh…so…was there something special you did to ask him out?” Kaede shakes her head.

“I just asked if he wanted to get coffee after classes one day, just the two of us. Simple as that.” Kaede tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. “I think in the end we were both relieved I did the asking. It meant no more tiptoeing around something we both wanted but never had enough courage to talk about until…well…we did, I guess.” She ends on a little awkward laugh. “Anyway, does that help at all, Himiko?”

“Yeah…I think it does.” It may sound to unsure to be sincere, but it does give Himiko a new strategy to think about.

“Well…if you ever need someone to talk to about anything, my lab is always open to you, okay?” Kaede offers. Himiko nods. “I promise I won’t tell Tenko about any degenerate males that may have caught your eye.” Kaede winks, and Himiko can’t help but laugh a little.

“Thanks, Kaede.”

Himiko leaves shortly after, thinking over Kaede and Shuichi and how they’d come to be a couple…

…determination and a plan don’t come until much later. Along with an abundance of nerves.

***

A few mornings later, Himiko puts on her lucky socks and her best barrette to go with her uniform. She throws a quick prayer up to Atua because it certainly can’t hurt. She tries to focus in her first class, eventually informing the teachers that she’ll spend the day “refining her skills as an Ultimate.”

She ends up mostly trying to distract herself by feeding her doves, organizing and reorganizing her props, and trying not to freak out or chicken out of what she’s told herself she’s going to do.

When she steps out for a quick (and small) lunch, she spots Kokichi on the other side of the hall, chattering away happily as Rantaro smiles and nods and occasionally interjects.

She eats what little she can manage with how much her stomach turns and her heart pounds, and hopes it isn’t too conspicuous that, shortly after Kokichi dumps his tray in order to take his leave, she does the same (just on the other end of the lunchroom). She stays far away enough from Kokichi in hopes that he won’t have detected her following him out.

Turning a corner to another hallway towards classrooms, Himiko quickens her step a little, to catch up to Kokichi. Sees him at his locker, turning the dial on the padlock deftly. She steels herself with a breath before walking up to him.

“Hi, Kokichi,” she greets, as casually as she can muster. He looks up from his lock, turning the dial the last little bit without looking.

“Hey, Himiko!” he says brightly, tugging down on the padlock to unlatch it and opening his locker. “Thought I saw you at lunch just now!” Whether or not he knows she’d followed him, she can’t tell. “Y’know, if you’re ever bored eating by yourself, you can always join me and Rantaro. We don’t bite. Unless you’re into that.”

“Yeah…thanks…” She laughs a little awkwardly. “So, um…I wanted to ask you something.”

“Sure thing.” He leans against the closed lockers next to his open one. “Lay it on me.”

“Well…um…nyeh…” She’s starting to get an idea of what Shuichi must have felt like trying to ask Kaede.

“Is this about joining D.I.C.E.?” Kokichi prompts. “I knew you’d be interested one of these days. And we could always use a mage on our side.”

“No, it’s…I was wondering if maybe you’d be interested in a…date.”

There. The words are out.

“Ooh, Kirumi made more of those bacon-wrapped date thingies? Yeah, I’d be up for that!”

“No, not that kind of date.”

“Oh…she didn’t?” Kokichi’s face falls in the manner it usually does when he’s faking disappointment.

“I was…” Himiko tries. “I was trying to ask you on a date.”

“…ask me what?”

“Nyeh?”

“You said you wanted to ask me on a date. You’re asking me a question. And it’s on a date. Specifically, today’s date, which is—”

“I know what today is!” Himiko exclaims, too fed up to be nervous anymore. “Not that kind of date, and you know not that kind of date!” Kokichi blinks, hand still curled around the door of his locker. “I wanted to ask if you wanted to go on a date. With me. …there’s a little place a few blocks from here that opened not too long ago and…I thought maybe we could go there together. And it could be a date.”

Kokichi studies her for the longest while before closing his locker.

“You’re serious,” he says. Himiko nods. “Why?”

“I just…I thought that maybe…I mean, you’ve been asking me about…dates…but not those kinds of dates…and I guess I thought that maybe you were trying to ask me but…and so I thought that maybe I should…because I…”

The longer she tries to explain under Kokichi’s unwavering unreadable gaze, the more her words falter, nervousness giving way to defeat.

She doesn’t feel relieved at all. Not like Kaede and Shuichi had. And why not? Himiko is not Kaede. Kokichi is not Shuichi.

Maybe she was wrong. That he really had just been teasing her all this time. Because that’s all he does with anyone and everyone.

She drops her head, unable to look into Kokichi’s eyes anymore, too wide and filled with emotions that can’t completely comprehend and doesn’t want to.

“Never mind,” she says, voice choking. “It was a stupid idea. Just…forget it.”

“Himiko—”

“Just…please don’t tease me too much about this, okay?”

Kokichi tries to say her name again, but she’s already halfway down the hall from him, with the sole purpose of turning down this hallway and that and up the stairs to the dorms, where she manages through blurry vision to unlock her door and bolt it behind her before throwing herself on to her bed and curling up.

She buries her face in a pillow and squeezes her eyes shut painfully tight.

Feelings, in general, are a pain. Crushes are even more of a pain.

She should have asked Maki for advice instead of Kaede and gone for that suppression thing instead.

***

As dinnertime approaches, Himiko receives a couple of messages from Tenko and Kaede, both asking if she wants to join them for dinner. She simply says she’s not feeling very well, but doesn’t respond further.

It’s a lie, she thinks as her stomach growls, but she just…can’t be around people right now.

At some point, she manages to muster herself out of her ennui long enough to change out of her uniform and into some pajamas, take her barrette and hat off. (She leaves her lucky socks on, though…they’re fuzzy and comfortable.)

Shortly after she knows dinnertime usually ends, she hears a knock on her door.

“Himiko?” a voice calls. “It’s Kirumi. I’ve brought you something.”

Well…Himiko can’t turn down Kirumi. She’s too kind and always goes out of her way to ensure everyone satisfaction. So Himiko opens the door, just a little.

“I do apologize for the intrusion,” Kirumi begins. “Tenko and Kaede mentioned you weren’t feeling well and expressed concern. I thought perhaps some rice and broth would help, in case you found yourself hungry later. I’ve also prepared some tea—a blend I know is one of your favorites.”

The steam billowing from the rice and broth waft towards Himiko, and she can’t deny that she IS hungry. And that broth DOES smell good…

“Thank you, Kirumi,” she says, taking the tray of offerings.

“It was no trouble at all,” Kirumi says with a warm smile. Himiko turns to set the tray of food on her desk.

“Was there anything else?” Himiko asks, noticing Kirumi’s remaining presence. “Like…did Tenko or anyone ask you to pass along a message from me or ask for an update?”

“No…” Kirumi’s smile falters the slightest bit. “I just…hope you will be able to forgive my slight deception.”

“Nyeh?”

Kirumi steps aside slightly, to reveal Kokichi standing behind her.

“Nyeh!”

He’s already slipped through the door before she can close it, standing in her room as Kirumi’s footsteps fade away.

“Figured this was the only way I’d be able to talk to you,” Kokichi says.

“…you could’ve picked the lock,” Himiko says in a weakly voiced argument.

“True,” Kokichi says with a shrug, “but I wouldn’t have wanted to, in this instance.”

“Nyeh…” Himiko looks away from him, back down at the tray of food. She picks up the small teapot to pour some of its contents into the small empty cup provided.

“We do need to talk, though, Himiko,” Kokichi says.

“No, we don’t,” Himiko says, not looking at him as she sets the teapot back down, lid rattling a little.

“Um…yeah, we do. You asked me on a date and then left before I could give you an answer.”

“You were gonna say no. Figured that was obvious. Didn’t want to make even more of a fool of myself.”

“You don’t know I was gonna turn you down.”

“You weren’t saying anything. You were just staring at me.”

“I was processing your question. You surprised me.”

Himiko forces herself to look away from the tray and up at him.

“Did I really surprise you, Kokichi?” she asks. “Or was all of this just a plan you came up with because you were bored? Tricking me with all those questions about dates but not about dates, in the hopes that it would get me to ask you on a date, all so you could reject and deject me? Because that’s just…it’s too mean and I’m too tired and I just…”

She ducks her head, focuses on the tray of food again, busies herself by pouring some of the broth on top of the rice and mixing it up with her chopsticks, hopes he can’t see the tears welling in her eyes. As if this whole mess couldn’t get worse…now she has to CRY in front of him.

“Yes.”

“Yes what?”

“Yes, I really was surprised by your question. And my answer to said question is yes.”

The clacking of the chopsticks against the ceramic bowl halts as her hand stills. She looks up at him.

“You…” She sniffles. “You’re serious? It’s…you’re not lying?”

It’s Kokichi’s turn to look down momentarily.

“I’m not…good with this kind of thing, Himiko,” he says. “I’m not good with feelings. Like, genuine feelings and…actually sharing them with people. I’m not good at vulnerability. And I’m aware that I’m not particularly liked amongst our friends because of that.” He gives her a wan smile. “No one would believe me if I ever told them I liked them, or if I asked them out. I wouldn’t have blamed you if you’d thought the same. And I don’t blame you now for not believing me. I’m not exactly reliable.”

Himiko says nothing. Blinks. Though the urge to cry is gone, a lingering tear falls to the floor.

“So I figured asking you about calendar dates and signatures and dates and…bacon-wrapped dates…” Kokichi laughs a little, in spite of himself. “That was the closest I could bring myself to asking you what I actually wanted to ask you. So that way, I didn’t have to lie and say that it was a lie when you asked me if I was just teasing.”

Kokichi looks down and laughs again, mirthless.

“Turned the tables on myself,” he says, eyes meeting hers again. “Now I’m the one who feels foolish.”

For a long while, Himiko doesn’t speak. Just studies him, as she has the entire time he’s spoken. Then, finally…

“You didn’t arrange the bacon-wrapped dates thing with Kirumi, did you?” she asks. Kokichi blinks at her question, smiles in spite of himself.

“No, she really was asked to make those for some formal gathering for the Ultimate Princess,” Kokichi says. “I just saw the opportunity and ran with it.” Himiko nods. “Is that really the only question you can think to ask?”

“No. I have more. But…” She looks down. “I don’t think either of us are up for keeping that conversation going tonight.” Kokichi nods.

“I think you’re right.”

A few moments of silent contemplation of each other.

“…does Saturday work for you?” she asks.

“For what?”

“A date.”

Kokichi stares at her for a long while before nodding.

“Seven?”

He nods again. She nods back before looking back down at her food, blinking one of the last few stray tears free.

“I am sorry, Himiko.” She glances up at him again, his hand on the doorknob. “That…I handled things the way I did. That I was too quiet for too long. …that I made you cry. I really hadn’t meant to do that last one.”

“…it’s okay, Kokichi,” Himiko says. “We can talk it over more some other time. …I’ll see you Saturday?”

“Yeah.” He turns the doorknob and opens the door, but pauses in the space between room and hall. “I mean…there’s a few more days of classes before the weekend, so I’ll see you before then, too, but…”

“You know what I meant.”

“Yes, I did.” He smiles. “Good night.”

He closes the door before she can wish him the same.

In the wake of his last comments, and his confessions, Himiko finds herself smiling around mouthfuls of rice.

***

School uniforms do not proper date attire make. And though the café isn’t high-end, it IS a step or so above a chain coffee shop.

So, for Himiko…a thin silver bracelet around her wrist, artfully placed bobby pins to hold her bangs back instead of her barrette, the rest of her hair pulled back in a loose ponytail, her nicest pair of jeans, black ballet flats, a dark teal top more on the side of blue than green. (She hopes it won’t be too cold for bare arms.)

Kokichi…Himiko doesn’t think she’s ever seen Kokichi in something that isn’t one of his school uniforms. She hadn’t even known he owned jeans. But he does. And…they look good on him. As does his sweater (dark purple, with one black stripe and one white stripe across the right side…off-kilter enough to fit his personality). And his jacket.

She…kinda can’t stop staring at him as they walk the several blocks to the café.

(In the back of her mind, she remembers joking to…him? Shuichi? Someone one time anyway, that the more they stared at her, the more they risked her becoming even more beautiful in their eyes. Nonsensical at the time, and meant for laughs, but…there may be some truth in it, she’s finding tonight, the more she stares at Kokichi.)

***

“So, what do you recommend from here?” Kokichi asks, flipping the menu over from the “Desserts” side to the “Beverages” side.

“Oh…I don’t know,” Himiko says. “It’s still so new, this is my first time coming here. But I heard they have really good strawberry shortcake.”

“Well…they don’t have anything flavored with grape Panta, so that’s points off.” Himiko laughs from behind her menu.

“We can split an order of shortcake, if you want,” Himiko suggests.

“Nuh-uh! I’m not gonna steal your dessert from you!”

“It’s not stealing if I offer to share it.”

“Well, maybe I want a dessert of my own. Ever consider that?”

“Briefly.”

“Besides, I’m more of a fifth-date kinda guy when it comes to something as important as sharing a dessert.” A sly grin and quick wink accompany the remark.

Himiko tucks her hair behind her ear and pretends to study her menu more, despite having long decided her order. (It helps hide her blush, at the very least.)

Their tea arrives—jasmine green for Himiko, milk oolong for Kokichi—and they place their dessert orders.

“One of everything,” Kokichi says, setting his menu down decisively. Then he grins. “Kidding, kidding.” Their server visibly relaxes when the joke is revealed and Kokichi places a sensible order. Himiko’s order follows.

“You’d better not pretend that they got your order wrong when they bring it out,” Himiko says quietly as their server walks away.

“Aw…how’d you know I was gonna do that?” Kokichi pretends to pout. For just a second, though.

Dessert arrives sooner than Himiko expects. (Either that, or talking to Kokichi just seems to make time pass more quickly.) For her, the previously mentioned strawberry shortcake, strawberries sliced and cream piped in such a way that make the dessert almost too pretty to eat. For Kokichi, purin flavored with vanilla and chai.

“Sweet with a little bit of spice,” Kokichi comments as he picks up a spoon. “Just like me.” He winks at Himiko again (he’s been doing that a lot tonight).

Word she’d heard on the strawberry shortcake ends up being proven right, the cake light and airy, the cream sweetened just right and whipped to perfection, and the strawberries picked at just the right time. All together, a beautiful combination.

“How’s the purin?” Himiko asks as she gathers a forkful of whipped cream before spearing a slice of strawberry. “I’ve never heard of it being flavored with chai before.”

“So good, Himiko,” Kokichi says, digging his spoon into the custard. “It’s like a solid chai tea latte with caramel. These people are geniuses.”

“I was reading one of the signs in the front earlier. Apparently Saturday and Sunday mornings, they make fresh taiyaki.”

“If their taiyaki is half as good as their purin, we HAVE to come back here, Himiko.”

Himiko smiles around a bite of strawberry…at the implication that they’ll be coming back…that there will be another date after this one.

Eventually, with tea drunk and desserts finished, the traditional arguing-over-the-check debate in a date comes.

“I’m the guy, I should pay,” Kokichi insists.

“But I’m the one who asked YOU out,” Himiko argues back. “I’ll feel bad if I don’t pay.”

“Okay, how about this? I’ll pay for what you ordered, and you pay for what I ordered. That way, we’re even.”

Himiko laughs too hard to argue any further. And the split is just about even either way.

***

The air in the café had been a little chillier than Himiko expected. Or maybe she just thought that because she hadn’t worn something sleeveless in such a long time. But stepping out of the café into the evening air, with the sun going down, the chilliness only seems to amplify.

Enough that, within one block of walking, Himiko can’t suppress a shiver when a light wind blows their way.

“Sheesh, Himiko, if you wanted to wear my jacket so badly, all you had to do was ask.”

“Nyeh?” She blinks at the sudden warm weight of fabric being draped around her shoulders, looks over to see Kokichi settling it around her. “Uh…thanks.” She slips her arms through the sleeves.

“Hate to cover up the blue, but…” Kokichi pauses his step, studies her for a moment. Himiko wonder if she should strike a pose or something.

Kokichi’s not that much taller than her, but his shoulders are broader than hers, so the sleeves cover part of her hands.

Another gust of wind hits them. Himiko barely registers it, save for some of her hair being freed from its loose style.

“Here.” Kokichi reaches over to tuck the freed strands behind her ear, a fingertip grazing her cheek so lightly, she almost imagines it. Her breath catches.

“Thanks,” she repeats.

“No problem,” he says. “…I mean, I’m gonna want that back when I drop you off, but…you don’t look half-bad in it.”

“…which half DOES look bad?”

“What?” Kokichi asks following a sputtering laugh.

“I mean, you said I don’t look half-bad in it. That must mean there’s a half that DOES look bad in it.”

“Way to overthink a compliment, Himiko.”

“Got you to laugh, though.”

“Sure did.” 

As they walk, Himiko’s fingers accidentally brush against Kokichi’s every now and again. She tries not to think too much of it.

“So…we said we were gonna talk,” Himiko says after a few moments of silence.

“We have been talking,” Kokichi says.

“No, I meant about…”

“I know, Himiko.” A pause. “…I didn’t want to accidentally spoil things tonight in doing so. I always seem to say the wrong thing a lot of the time.” Himiko looks over at him.

“Okay. We don’t have to talk about anything like that tonight.” She looks back down. “…but if there are gonna be more dates, we should. I mean…if you want there to be more dates.”

“Do you want there to be?”

Himiko can feel him looking at her. Though she doesn’t return his gaze, she nods.

They reach a crosswalk and pause to let the cars on the road pass. Himiko’s hand once again brushes against Kokichi’s, her pinky knocking into his. As she prepares to gives their arms more distance, his pinky nudges against hers more purposely. Almost curling around it in the loosest manner. She resists the urge to look over at him, instead curling her pinky more tightly around his.

They remain that way the rest of the walk back, little fingers loosely joined, not verbally acknowledged. Only dropped upon approaching the academy itself.

“So…” Kokichi says as they turn a corner to the hallway where Himiko’s room is. “…when should we talk about…?”

“When works for you?” Himiko asks.

“…any time this week. Kinda want to take you back there for taiyaki next weekend.”

“…really?”

“Yeah. You planted the seed in my mind, so…with or without you, I’m getting taiyaki. Preferably with you, though.”

Himiko smiles.

They pause in front of her door.

“Thank you,” Himiko says, turning to face him. “I…it was really nice spending the evening with you.” Kokichi grins.

“I’m the one who should be thanking you,” he says. “I mean…YOU were the one who asked ME on this date.”

She wants to argue back. Point out that he sort of asked her first. But that would just lead into the conversation they don’t want to have tonight, because…it’s already been so nice.

“Fine. You’re very welcome.” Kokichi’s eyes flicker up and down quickly.

“You look wonderful, by the way.” Between the look and the compliment, a blush comes easily once more. “Should’ve said that the beginning of the date, probably, but…”

“Even in your jacket?”

“ESPECIALLY in my jacket.”

“Yeah, well…” She shrugs the jacket off. “You don’t look half-bad in your jacket either.”

“…which half DOES look bad, though?”

Himiko leans back against her door laughing. He WOULD use her own joke against her. But he laughs, too, as he pulls the jacket back on.

“…I probably have no right to ask you this but…” His smile slips into something softer. More serious. “Himiko…”

“Yeah?”

“Can I kiss you?”

She swallows hard and nods.

Kokichi walks closer. Already leaning on her door, she simply waits as he approaches, her heartbeat speeding up in anticipation.

What she expects is a quick glance down at her lips before he leans in as her eyes flutter shut and…

What happens instead is Kokichi, upon drawing close enough, takes her hand in his, lifts it, and presses a long kiss to her knuckles.

It does not take her breath away any less than a proper kiss would have, not when he holds her hand so gently and kisses it so softly and looks at her so…she doesn’t even know.

“Good night, Himiko,” he says, almost in a whisper.

“Good night, Kokichi,” she returns, just as hushed.

She doesn’t retreat into her room right away, instead watching him walk away until he turns the corner and disappears from sight.

***

Said talk comes sooner rather than later, Kokichi knocking on her door one evening following dinner.

He talks for a long while, and she listens. She talks for a long while, and he listens. It’s more than she expects to share with him…and more she ever expected from him. Would probably stun others to see Kokichi being so…unlike the Kokichi they know. Or think they know. Kokichi’s not supposed to be vulnerable or honest or serious. He’s annoying and brash and a lying little lie machine who doesn’t take anything seriously ever.

His words. Not hers.

“I can’t promise I’ll never lie to you,” Kokichi says at one point. “You deserve honesty. As much as I can give to you. But…deceit has been part of my nature for so long that I just…I can’t promise that I’ll never lie. I’d break that promise so fast if I did.”

“I wouldn’t expect you to never lie,” Himiko says. “Just…don’t lie to me about certain things, okay? Some lies would hurt more than others.”

“I know. And that’s what scares me about…” Kokichi runs a hand through his hair. “It’s what terrifies me about…this. Any relationship. That I’ll just end up hurting you because of who I am.”

“You’re a better person than you give yourself credit for, Kokichi,” Himiko says. “Than a lot of people give you credit for.”

“You don’t know that.”

“The fact that you’re worried at all about hurting me just proves you’re better than you think you are. If you WERE that type of person, that wouldn’t be a concern to you.”

“I’ve already made you cry, Himiko,” Kokichi says, sound near tears himself…and not the crocodile tears he pulls to get a rise out of people. “…I’m gonna do it again, I know it, and you may never forgive me and I’ll deserve that, but I’ll never forgive myself for it.”

“Well…maybe they’ll be happy tears,” Himiko says. “Maybe I’ll be the one who ends up making you cry, whether happy or sad or hurt tears. We’re human, Kokichi. It happens. We hurt people’s feelings sometimes, whether we mean to or not.”

“Yeah…” He nods.

“If it helps at all...” Himiko says, “some of your lies are really easy to figure out.”

“Yeah?”

“Why do you think I wore blue on our date? Or pulled my hair back? You’d said both made me look ugly. Meaning you actually thought both made me beautiful.”

Kokichi stares at her with a hint of something resembling awe.

“How can you figure me out that easily?”

“…you said something once about a liar knowing their own kind.” She shrugs. Kokichi’s awe falls into something like questioning, maybe a little sadness.

In her own ways, she too is a liar. Maybe not as openly as Kokichi, but…she HAS told lies. Mostly to herself, but they still count. But…she’s not ready to share all of that with Kokichi yet.

“I mean…I think I lied to myself a lot about how much I actually liked you, if that counts,” she offers as the best answer she chooses to give. A not-completely-false answer.

Kokichi nods. He knows it’s not what Himiko means. But he doesn’t press it, which she appreciates. It’s her story to tell, and she will tell it in due time.

She lays out the things she hopes he never lies to her about. He actually takes notes. Literally writes them down for himself as a reminder.

Nighttime approaches when their conversation finally peters off and Kokichi stands to take his leave.

“So…taiyaki this weekend?” Kokichi asks. Himiko nods. “…can I kiss you again?” Her heart skips. She nods again.

Kokichi raises a hand, pushes the brim of her hat up, some of her bangs with it, and presses a kiss to her forehead.

“Good night, Himiko.”

“Good night, Kokichi.”

***

Sure enough, the following weekend, they return to the café, wait in long lines for freshly made taiyaki. Watch the chefs pour batter to half-fill fish-shaped molds, add a spoonful of red bean paste, top it with more batter. Himiko’s mouth waters as two taiyaki are popped out of molds, wrapped in paper, handed to Kokichi, who hands one to Himiko. The dough soft and warm beneath the crisp exterior, the red bean paste nestled within sweet and familiar. When they return, taiyaki finished, Kokichi reaches up to wipe a crumb away from the corner of her mouth before brushing a kiss against the tip of her nose.

Another afternoon, Kokichi spends the time in Himiko’s lab. He practices cardistry with her, watches her run through a new spell, tries to guess how she does it (sometimes he’s right, other times he’s stumped). Claims to do magic of his own. Or just…neat stuff.

“I can stick out my tongue and touch my forehead,” he boasts.

“Really?” Himiko asks, raising her eyebrows. Kokichi nods with a bright smile. “…okay, let’s see.”

Kokichi proceeds to stick his tongue out at her, and then touch his forehead with his pointer finger. She flings a card at him.

He leaves later that afternoon with a kiss brushed against her temple.

One weekend when the weather is good, they take a long walk around a nearby park, still sort-of not-quite holding hands, pinkies firmly locked. At some point, though, the rest of their fingers tangle together loosely, then more tightly. When they part, he kisses the very outside of her cheek.

Their fifth official date takes them back to the café from their first date. She thought Kokichi had been joking when he said he didn’t share desserts until the fifth date, just…playing on other things couple claims not to do until a certain date. But no. They end up sharing an order of ujikintoki, with just about every optional topping listed on the menu. Kokichi pays for the main dessert, Himiko for the extra toppings. When he drops Himiko off, Kokichi asks her to close her eyes. She holds her breath in anticipation, tilts her head up the tiniest bit…and Kokichi cups her face gently as he kisses one eyelid, then the other, before wishing her a good night and taking his leave.

One day they hole up in the library to study, Himiko on a couch, Kokichi on the floor, the carpet comfier than any of the available chairs.

“I’m happy to share the couch with you,” Himiko says for the umpteenth time.

“I don’t trust you to not kick me in the face, Himi-kimi-kins,” Kokichi says, skepticism in his tone. She rolls her eyes, but lets him lounge where he is. “Can I call you Himi-kimi-kins? You okay with that nickname?”

“Not all the time, but sure.” She leans over to point out a discrepancy in his notes, helps him correct the error.

Later, he gets a text from someone. Supposedly D.I.C.E.

“Matter of life and death,” he says casually, slipping his phone back into his pocket. “May not return in one piece, or at all. There’s a letter hidden in the right top third drawer of my desk in my room for your eyes only if I don’t come back.”

“I’ll make sure to read it even if you do come back,” Himiko says lazily, looking back down at her notebook.

“That’s my girl,” Kokichi laughs, pushing himself up to sitting, leaning over to press a kiss to the crook of her knee before he stands and dashes off. Despite wearing stockings, her skin seems to tingle where the imprint of his lips had touched her in such an…almost intimate place.

Nearly every time they meet up, for a date or otherwise, Kokichi kisses her somewhere new. Her elbow, the top of her head, the back of her shoulder, the inside of her wrist.

Always somewhere different. Always avoiding one specific area.

***

“Can I ask you something, Kokichi?” Himiko asks one evening in Kokichi’s room.

Kokichi looks up from his notebook and sets his pencil down.

“Sure thing, Himi-kimi-kins,” he says with a smile.

“When did you start liking me?”

Kokichi ponders over her question, biting his lip as he thinks.

“…there was this time,” he says, walking once more, “when our class was meeting up with one of the older classes. And one of them wasn’t impressed by your magic…like…at all. And you just got…SO upset with him.” Kokichi laughs. “I will never forget the way you pointed at him and said ‘I’ll hit you with my “Every sip of coffee you take for the rest of your life will burn your tongue” curse.’ That was…truly priceless.” He smiles. “Kinda hard not to admire a girl who stands up to the Ultimate Yakuza like that.”

She remembers that day. She remembers Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu, and not fondly. She remembers him belittling her magic, and not caring how many people he was in charge of or how dangerous he was…she knew and had met more dangerous people than him. She remembers meeting Kokichi’s eye following the exchange, and him smiling at her in a way she hadn’t seen him smile at anymore before.

“What about you?” he asks. “When did you first start suffering love for me?”

“When did I say I loved you, Kokichi? We haven’t been on that many dates yet.”

“Yeah, well…it’s a good epithet.”

Himiko bites her lip.

“It’s been taking me a while to figure that out,” she begins. “I wasn’t sure if it was…when you started the whole asking-me-for-a-date thing, or if I’d liked you for longer than that and never realized it until then.” She glances down in thought, caught up in memory. “I do remember, there was this one time, I was in Kaede’s practice room, and she was playing something. You came in with a message from Shuichi, and began talking about how you could play piano, too. Kaede moved so you could sit down. And you got ready to play. Then when your fingers met the keys, you just played all of them at once, it seemed, then said something like ‘That was a lie, I have no idea how to play.’”

Himiko laughs at the memory, before her smiles falls a little.

“I hadn’t had a good day that day,” she continues, “and just…needed to hide in Kaede’s lab and listen to some sad piano music and wallow. And I think…or I like to think…that maybe you noticed I’d been having a bad day and that you wanted to try and cheer me up.”

“…I hadn’t noticed at all. I just wanted to bug Kaede.”

Himiko rolls her eyes at the obvious lie, but smiles.

“…you’re incredibly perceptive,” Kokichi says. “Anyone ever tell you that?”

“You have, a few times.”

“So…you’ve liked me longer than I thought,” Kokichi muses.

“I’ve liked you longer than I thought, too,” Himiko says. “Like…when I tried to think back when I must have started liking you, that’s really my best guess. At least…it was one of those moments where I thought you had to be an okay guy.”

“Just okay then?”

“I mean…yeah, I think you’re more than okay NOW…”

“I’m a little offended, Himiko, not gonna lie.”

“I’m a little offended, too.”

“At what?”

Himiko pauses, wondering if she wants to bring it up.

“Okay, ‘offended’ is maybe the wrong word, but…” She fidgets with the button on one of her jacket sleeves. “Why haven’t you kissed me?”

Kokichi blinks.

“I’ve kissed you,” Kokichi says. “I’ve kissed you lots of times.”

“You’ve kissed me but you haven’t KISSED me,” Himiko says. Kokichi rises from his desk, walks over to sit on the edge of the bed next to Himiko.

“Do you want butterfly kisses? Is that it?” he asks, leaning in to flutter his eyelashes against the side of her face. She flinches at the tickling sensation, leaning back slightly.

“No, it’s…” In leaning away, her hat slips off her head and into her lap. She gathers it into a fist. “There is one very specific place you haven’t kissed yet and…I was wondering if there was a reason why or…if you just didn’t want to kiss me like that.”

“Where haven’t I kissed you?” Kokichi asks. “Do you mean here?” He takes her wrist, gently pulls her back close, brushes a kiss to her earlobe. “Here?” He kisses the apple of her cheek. “Here?” As he leans down to kiss her neck, Himiko presses a hand to his face, makes him look at her.

“You know exactly what I’m talking about, Kokichi,” she says.

“I do?”

She’s not playing this game again. Not after they played it before even dating.

And perhaps that’s partly what propels her to lean forward and press her lips to his, trying to ignore the shocked little inhale Kokichi takes through his nose, her fingers falling away from his face.

She…hadn’t really thought about what it would feel like to kiss Kokichi. Warm. A little chapped. But still soft. Rather…nice. She can’t say it’s better than she ever dreamed because…she hadn’t dreamed about it, really. But it’s nice. And it’s Kokichi. So…

Himiko pulls away quickly, a little shocked by her own actions, a little worried that she’d just done something that made him uncomfortable, heart thudding in her ears as Kokichi looks at her with wide eyes.

She’s just about ready to bolt up and rush out of the room when Kokichi reaches up to touch her face, cup her cheek, glance down at her lips, back up into her eyes.

He leans in closer, the tip of his nose brushing against hers as he tilts his head, hand settling more firmly at the side of her neck as his mouth covers hers again, in a deeper kiss than what she’d given. Her hand unclenches, hat falling to the floor, and she reaches up to curl her fingers into the front of his shirt. Her other hand settles on to his shoulder as his fingertips thread into her hair and she sighs against his mouth. Hints of grape Panta fizz on her lips and tongue.

After seconds, minutes, hours, Himiko’s not sure, Kokichi pulls away, forehead resting against hers, his breath tickling her skin, still close enough for his lips to brush against hers fleetingly.

“I’d been afraid of that,” he says, voice low and a little hoarse. “Afraid that…if I kissed you…I wouldn’t want to stop.” His thumb barely grazes the corner of her mouth. “You have witchcraft in your lips.”

Such a declaration…Himiko can’t quite describe the effect it has on her; she just knows it does, and her head seems to spin a little.

“I feel a little spellbound myself,” she returns breathlessly. And they laugh against each other’s lips, smile into another kiss.

Himiko thinks she understands what Kokichi meant in not wanting to stop kissing her because she rapidly begins to feel the same. It seems that they never part for long, only long enough to catch a breath, before one of them leans forward again, captures lips in another kiss. There’s something strangely addictive to the warmth of Kokichi’s mouth, the cheeky swipe of his tongue against her lips, the gentle pressure of his hands brushing against her stocking-clad thigh or trailing fingers along her bare neck.

There is much more that comes with kissing, she knows. But if they never reach that point…if all they share are many more nights of kissing like this first one…Himiko will be happy.

***

“Hey Himiko?”

“Nyeh?” Himiko looks up. The chatter at the rest of the table comes to a halt, all eyes going to Kokichi (Kaede laying a gentle hand on Tenko’s arm, to ward off any cries of “degenerate male” ahead of time.)

“Yes, Kokichi?”

“Do you have a date for Kaede’s recital?” he asks innocently, as though he DOESN’T think such a question will bring silence to the crowded table.

“Um…yeah, it’s the…24th, right, Kaede?” Himiko turns to look at Kaede, who nods. “Yeah, the 24th. That’s the date of Kaede’s recital.”

Kokichi’s eyes twinkle at her answer, his smirk only readable to Himiko, who returns it.

“Thanks for confirming,” he says, and turns as though to walk away, but then turns back to her. “Oh, also, do you wanna go with me to that?”

The metaphorical pin that was dropped earlier gets dropped again.

“Nyeh…we’re both already going no matter what.”

“I meant as a date, Himi-kimi-kins. A romantic outing.”

Himiko smiles at the nickname and the clarification, and ignores the shocked sounds coming from others at the table (mostly Tenko).

“I’d like that, Kokichi,” he answers.

“Cool beans. It’s a date.”

More shocked sounds as Kokichi leans down to brush a kiss to the corner of Himiko’s mouth. She watches him walk away, smiling as he does. Her smile falters only a little when she turns back to look at the table full of varying expressions: shock (Tsumugi), shock and slight disgust (Tenko), bemusement (Kirumi and, to a lesser degree, Maki), and bright smiles (Angie and Kaede).

“What?” she asks. “It’s not like it’s my first date with him. We’ve been dating for a while now.” She sips her tea. “You guys aren’t very observant, are you?”

Tenko’s resulting “WHAT?!” is very hard not to laugh at.

**Author's Note:**

> "you have witchcraft in your lips" is, like, top five shakespeare quotes for me, and i knew i had to have kokichi use that line on himiko at some point. (that's not the only shakespeare reference in this fic, see if you can find the other.)
> 
> so here's the thing. kokichi's already the hardest character to write for, and i find myself unable to stick to his game characterization (antagonistic lying little lie machine, etc.) but i honestly believe that in a universe where the killing game doesn't exist/happen, he'd be a LOT less antagonistic, and more of a class clown type of liar/mischief maker. and i would also like to believe that he'd soften some and show some goddamn vulnerability and be honest to a degree in a romantic relationship, because relationships + too much deceit = bad combination. (i also just...REALLY vehemently dislike the trope of "guy antagonizes girl to the point of tears because he secretly likes her" and tried to make that less...gross.) so...that's the way i see, and therefore write, kokichi.
> 
> feedback welcome and appreciated. (but please be respectful.)


End file.
